ANZAC Biscuit Inspired Fruit Crumble

This recipe idea came to me not long after I woke up today, and since I actually remembered the idea after I had properly woken up and got ready for the day, I just had to make it.

This crumble is based on the Weeknight Strawberry and Apple Crumble from my cookbook, Everyday Bakes. It’s a pretty flexible recipe and makes enough to generously feed four people. 

I always like using apples as the base of my crumble, very finely sliced. You can play around with what other fruit you would like to add. I find a punnet of strawberries goes well, and this time I also added in some already cooked rhubarb I had. You could add berries, pears, stone fruit, or poached quince if you have some already. The quantities for the fruit don’t need to be exact, just make sure you don’t overfill your baking dish or you may end up with any fruit juices overflowing from the dish during baking. 

The crumble topping is inspired by ANZAC Biscuits, using oats, brown sugar, coconut and golden syrup, which I’m sure many of us are thinking about making this weekend. I hope this crumble will be a nice thing to make and enjoy this long weekend, along with a batch or two of ANZAC Biscuits.

ANZAC Biscuit Inspired Fruit Crumble

Ingredients:

40g unsalted butter, softened

50g rolled oats (not instant oats)

50g plain flour

50g brown sugar

20g shredded coconut

1 tsp golden syrup

x2 small apples (I prefer Pink Lady apples) 

250g strawberries

Cooked rhubarb*, optional

2 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, oats, flour, sugar and coconut until everything is well combined. You can use your fingers to rub everything together. Once well combined, add in the golden syrup and mix with a spoon until it is fairly well incorporated. 

Finely slice the apples (no need to peel them!) and hull and quarter the strawberries. Place the fruit into a 1.25L/5 cup capacity baking dish - one that is wider and shallower instead of narrow and deep will work better for this recipe. 

If you have any cooked or stewed rhubarb you can mix some of that in now as well, just enough so your baking dish is not overly full and you still have ample room for the crumble topping without everything spilling over the sides. You could also add in any other berries (approx. 125g), one stone fruit that is finely sliced, a finely sliced pear or an additional apple if you wish. 

Toss the vanilla into the fruit and press the fruit mixture down a little so the crumble topping has a relatively even surface to sit on. Then top with the crumble topping so it evenly covers the surface.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream or cream.

If there are any leftovers, allow the crumble to cool down then cover and keep in the the fridge.

Serves four, generously.

* I used some pot roasted rhubarb I had made from Sophie Hansen and Annie Herron’s new book Around the Kitchen Table. I used the cooked cut up stalks (about 15 individual pieces of varying sizes), and allowed most of the cooking juice to drip off before adding to the crumble. 

An Aussie Pav for Christmas

I have posted a handful of Pavlova recipes on my blog over the years. I love a Pavlova, it was my favourite dessert that my Grandma would make and it has been quite a permanent feature in my life.

Christmas in Australia is an excellent time for a Pavlova (or ‘Pav’ as we Aussies like to shorten it to!). The pavlova itself can be made in advance, and it is a nice light dessert after a filling Christmas lunch or dinner.

This recipe for pav is the more traditional Australian take on the dessert, compared to the previous recipes I’ve shared. It is based on my Grandma’s recipe which is always the recipe I turn to when I want to make a pav. I shared her original recipe here a few years ago. That one makes a slightly smaller pav and doesn’t have any toppings as that’s how I liked to eat it as a child. Times have very clearly changed since then!

Topped with cream, berries and cherries its delicious and makes the most if the excellent in season fruit we have here at this time of year. You could also top your pav with mix other types of fruit, like mango, kiwi fruit, strawberries, stone fruit etc. It’s really up to you and what you most like to eat.

I haven’t given quantities for the fruit as you can put as little or as much as you like, just go with what looks good. I tend to put a whole punnet of blueberries and raspberries and add in a few cherries, maybe some cut up strawberries and a few edible flowers if I can get any.

If you have any leftovers you can cover the pav and store in the fridge for about 2 days.

An Aussie Pav for Christmas

Ingredients:

6 egg whites

375g caster sugar

1.5 tsp white vinegar

1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

30g cornflour

For the Topping:

300ml pouring cream

1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste

mixture of berries, such as blueberries and raspberries

handful of cherries

edible flowers, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Trace a circle on to the baking paper, using a plate or cake stand that is about 26-28cm in diameter (you can use whatever plate you will serve it on later).

Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat using the whisk attachment for 5-6 minutes. Gradually add the sugar during this time, a tablespoon or so at a time.

Add the vinegar and vanilla and continue to beat until the mixture is glossy and holding its peak.

Sift the cornflour over the mixture and gently fold into the meringue using a spatula until just combined.

Using your finger, place a tiny amount of the meringue mixture under two corners of the baking paper on the prepared tray. This will keep your baking paper in place whilst you shape the pavlova.

Place the meringue onto the prepared tray, keeping within the traced circle. Spread it out using a spatula, keeping the sides of the pavlova high and the middle a little lower (so it can hold the cream and fruit later!). I like to leave a little gap between my pav and the traced circle, rather than pushing the meringue right to the edges. The pav will expand a bit as it cooks, and if you’ve traced around the serving plate you will use later on, this way the pav will still fit on the plate rather than expanding past the traced circle, and therefore becoming bigger than your serving plate or cake stand!

Turn the oven down to 125 degrees Celsius and cook the pav undisturbed (don’t open the oven!), for 1.5 hours. After 1.5 hours, turn the oven off and leave the pav to cool completely in the oven (leaving it overnight to cool is best if you can).

Just before you are reading to serve your pav, whip the cream and the vanilla until the cream has thickened and forms soft peaks.

Spread the cream over centre of the pav, and decorate with the berries (or your fruit of choice), and some edible flowers if you wish.

Serves at least 10 (depends on how generous your slices are!).

Rosé Poached Peaches

This recipe came about as Barossa Valley based Gomersal Wines kindly gifted me some of their products. They sent some Rosé, and since we often make poached pears in Moscato, I wondered if I could use this idea to poach another fruit in Rosé in the same manner. 

I can say with certainty that peaches (white or yellow) work very well poached in Rosé, and it is my new favourite Summer dessert.

You may be wondering why I am posting a distinctly Summer-y dessert during Winter, but I first made it during Summer with lovely in season white peaches. It was delicious, however there was no opportunity to take any photos. 

Gomersal kindly sent me another bottle so I could make it again, and I have been eagerly awaiting the out of season peaches from the USA so I could cook it again. 

Now finally the recipe is ready, and despite it being woefully out of season for those of us now in the depths of Winter I still wanted to share it.

If peaches aren’t in season where you are, instead of doing what I did and buying out of season peaches for $20/kg (!!!), you can use pears (ones that are just ripe, overripe pears won’t be too easy to peel!) instead and it will still be an equally delicious dessert. So really, this recipe will adapt to all times of year! 

Maybe I should have called the recipe Rosé Poached *Insert Your Seasonal Fruit Here*?!

Either way, it’s definitely a recipe worth giving a go. It’s certainly easy enough to make when you don’t have a lot of time, and since the peaches will last in the syrup for a few days you could definitely make this in advance. 

This recipe works best with slip stone peaches that are just ripe. Peaches that are beyond just ripe probably won’t peel or poach very neatly, and I can say from experience that cling peaches are quite difficult to eat even after poaching - unless you enjoy wrestling with a slippery peach in syrup trying to prize the flesh away from the stone!

Also, you will probably have some syrup left over after the peaches are finished. I would suggest if you want to save it, it would make a lovely addition to a Summer cocktail or drink. 

And while you can use vanilla bean paste if you don’t have any vanilla pods, if you do use a vanilla pod don’t throw it away after the peaches are done. Rinse it off and dry it, then add it to a jar of either pure vodka or rum to make your own vanilla extract. Each time you have used a vanilla pod add it to the jar, and in a few months you’ll have your own homemade vanilla extract!

Rosé Poached Peaches

Ingredients: 

750ml bottle Rosé

4-6* peaches (yellow or white), just ripe or slightly under ripe slip stone if possible 

165g caster sugar 

1 vanilla pod

1 tsp vanilla extract

Ice cream to serve

Method: 

In a large saucepan, add the Rosé, sugar and vanilla extract. Slice the vanilla pod down the middle and scrape the seeds from each side and add to the pot, along with the vanilla pod pieces. 

Place over medium heat. Allow to come to a gentle boil.

Whilst the Rosé mixture is heating, carefully peel the peaches. Once the Rosé mixture has heated up and the sugar has dissolved, gently add in the peaches (a slotted spoon is good for this). 

If the peaches aren’t covered enough by the Rosé syrup, add in a little water - they don’t need to be completely submerged but you will want to move them around as they are poaching so they cook evenly. 

Lower the heat to low/medium so the Rosé syrup is simmering and leave the peaches to poach for about 20-30 minutes (the timing will depend on how ripe your peaches are and their size). Place a scrunched up piece of baking paper over the top of the peaches so ensure they don’t discolour during cooking. 

The peaches will be ready once a knife can gently pierce through the flesh and the flesh is soft but not mushy. 

Serve immediately with some of the Rosé syrup and ice cream. 

Will keep for a few days in the fridge. 

* quantity of peaches will depend on how many people you wish to serve, and how many you can fit in your saucepan.

Thank you to Gomersal Wines for gifting me some of their wines so I could make this recipe.

Cherry Pavlova Ice Cream

This recipe came about as a way to use up some leftovers from a Christmas shoot I did for Little Big Dairy Co recently. I had a lot of milk (20 litres to be precise!), and some additional Christmas-y things like cherries and pre-made mini pavlovas that were used for the shoot. I hate things going to waste, especially good quality produce like Little Big Dairy Co milk and Australian cherries so I decided I would go on a ice cream making spree in an attempt to at least use up some of the milk that had been sent to me for the shoot. 

I bought some Little Big Dairy Co cream to use with my ice cream, and I made one lot of this ice cream plus some vanilla ice cream at the house I was staying in for the shoot. I then brought back one 300ml jar of the cream I had left, and needed to make it last for 4 different types of ice cream I wanted to make (all in an attempt to thoughtfully use up some of the delicious milk I had!).

So for this recipe I have split the amount of cream needed between pouring cream and plain Greek style yoghurt. Greek style yoghurt works well in homemade ice creams along side cream, however if you have enough cream you can just use that (250ml total). 

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Cherry Pavlova Ice Cream

Ingredients:

165ml milk

5 tbsp caster or white sugar

150ml pouring cream

100ml plain Greek Style Yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

365g cherries (unpitted weight), pitted and roughly chopped

70-75g pavlova*, roughly chopped, plus extra

Edible dried rose petals, optional

Method: 

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and sugar until the milk is frothy and the sugar has dissolved. I use an electric hand held mixer for this, but you can also use a stand mixer if you prefer. 

Once the sugar has dissolved into the milk, add the cream, yoghurt and vanilla. Whisk on medium speed until everything is combined and the cream has thickened to form soft mousse like peaks. 

Transfer the mixture to your ice cream maker, and churn according to your machines instructions.  I use the ice cream bowl attachment to my KitchenAid stand mixer and I find this ice cream takes about 5-10 minutes to churn. I find the ice cream is ready once it has frozen/thickened and is clinging to the paddle of the machine. 

Once the has been churned fold through the cherries and pavlova using a spatula. Transfer the mixture to a freezer safe container (about 1.5L capacity). Sprinkle any extra crushed up pavlova over the top, and sprinkle over some dried rose petals if desired.

Allow ice cream to freeze for a few hours before serving. 

*I used about 6 pre made mini pavlovas (I got mine from Woolworths). You could also use pre made meringues. 

Christmas Gingerbread Trifle with Red Currant & Cranberry Jelly

I had this idea for a Gingerbread Trifle at least a year ago, around Christmas. I didn’t have time to make it, but I was determined to try it the following year. 

So this year was the year to make trifle, and while I almost didn’t make it (it’s lovely, but yes a bit of effort is required), I am so glad I did. I am loving the distinct layers and being able to use some of the currants I had frozen from last Christmas (plus we’ve owned this gorgeous glass trifle dish for years and never used it, so I’m glad I’ve finally put it to good use!).

I’ve actually never made a trifle until now, to be honest I don’t really like traditional ones. I absolutely hate that the cake used is soaked in some kind of alcohol, to me that just ruins the whole thing.

So I have made this trifle alcohol free, and the gingerbread cake used really doesn’t need to be soaked in anything. You can of course add some alcohol if you wish.

I have used red currants for the jelly, and decoration. I love them and the tart flavour they add. They come into season just before Christmas here in Australia, and I always buy a couple of punnets and freeze some too. I have used my freezer stash of currants for this trifle, but raspberries could also be used for the jelly and decoration. I think pomegranate juice could also be used instead of cranberry in the jelly as well, and then decorated with pomegranate arils. 

It is best to start this recipe the day before. I made the jelly and cakes the day before, then just whipped the creams and assembled before serving the next day.

Try to use a glass trifle dish with straight sides like the one pictured. If not, use one that is also 4L capacity, and keep in mind that you may have to trim your cakes more to get them to fit. 

A note on the jelly: Making jelly with red currants using the below method will create a slightly cloudy jelly. This is what happens when currants are pushed through a sieve to create a puree, rather than leaving them to gradually drip through muslin overnight on their own. I couldn’t think of anything worse than this recipe taking a whole day more just to wait for 55g of red currants to slowly strain overnight, so I opted for a slightly cloudy jelly instead. And in all honesty, once the trifle is all assembled, I can barely notice the difference. 

Red Currant & Cranberry Jelly 

Ingredients:

800ml water

350g caster sugar

16g gelatine sheets (I used titanium strength)

120ml cranberry juice

55g + 60g red currants (fresh or frozen)

Method: 

You will need a 4L capacity (22-23cm in diameter) trifle dish for this recipe.

In a large saucepan add the water and sugar. Place on the stove over high heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. 

Place 55g of the red currants in a food processor and blitz until a puree forms. Strain the puree into the cranberry juice, discarding the seeds etc. 

After 10 minutes, remove the sugar syrup from the heat and set aside to cool a little. 

Place the gelatine sheets in a shallow bowl and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 3 minutes, then remove from the water, squeezing out any excess water. 

Add to the sugar syrup, and whisk until the gelatine has dissolved. Then add the cranberry juice and red currant puree and whisk until combined. If the jelly has formed lots of foam from all that whisking, try to scoop as much of it off as possible. I find if it isn’t removed the jelly will set with most of this foam remaining on top. 

Pour about 750ml of the jelly into your trifle mould, and the remainder into a small plastic wrap lined container. 

Scatter in 60g red currants over the jelly in the trifle dish, then place both jellies into the fridge to set overnight. 

Makes about 1180ml jelly in total. 

Gingerbread Cake 

Ingredients: 

375g unsalted butter, softened

300g brown sugar 

3 eggs

465g molasses 

345ml water

615g plain flour 

1.5 tsp baking powder

1.5 tsp bicarb soda

1.5 tsp ground ginger

1.5 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp ground all spice 

1 tsp ground cardamom 

canola oil spray, for greasing

Method: 

Grease and line two 22-23cm round cake tins (use round cake tins that are closest in diameter to your trifle dish). Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, spices and baking powder. Sift in the bicarb soda and whisk to combine.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy using the paddle attachment. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then beat in the water and molasses on a low speed (to avoid the water sloshing out of the mixing bowl!). 

Add the flour mixture and beat on a low speed until the flour begins to combine, then increase the speed a little and mix until combined (you can also do this by hand with a wooden spoon or spatula if you wish). 

Evenly divide the batter between the prepared tins, and bake for about 1 hour. The cakes probably won’t fit on the same oven shelf, so swap them over about half way through the cooking time to ensure they both cook evenly. The cakes will be ready when a skewer inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Cool for at least 20 minutes in their tins, before turning onto a cooling rack. 

Once the cakes are cooled, they can either be used immediately in the trifle if ready, or wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in an airtight container. 

Christmas Gingerbread Trifle 

Ingredients: 

Red Currant & Cranberry Jelly, as above

Gingerbread Cake, as above

550ml pouring cream

1 tbsp pure maple syrup

1.5 tsp vanilla bean paste

red and white currants, to decorate (fresh or frozen)

Method: 

N.B. If you are making this on a fairly warm day, you may want to place the trifle back in the fridge in between some of the below steps to ensure all the layers keep their shape and remain cold. 

Just before serving, take one of the gingerbread cakes, and even out the top if necessary. Trim the sides to fit into the trifle dish if necessary. Place the layer of cake on top of the jelly layer. 

Whip 300ml of the cream with the maple syrup, and using a piping bag pipe a nice edge of the cream on the outer rim over the cake layer. Fill in the remaining layer with the cream, and smooth it out if necessary to ensure it is fairly even. 

Take the second gingerbread cake and even out the top if necessary. Trim the sides of the cake to to fit into the trifle dish if necessary. This cake layer should sit right up to the top edge of the trifle dish. Place the cake on top of the layer of maple cream.

Whip the remaining 250ml of cream with the vanilla, then using a piping bag (just cut a small opening at the bottom of the bag, you don’t need to use a piping tip if you don’t have one), decorate the top of the trifle. 

Remove the remaining jelly from its container, and cut into squares. Don’t worry if some of it breaks, I didn’t find I wanted to use all the jelly to decorate the top of the trifle anyway. Decorate the top of the trifle with some of the cut up jelly (any excess jelly can be placed back into the container and stored in the fridge, or added to each serve of trifle separately on each plate), and finish with some extra red and white currants. 

Serve immediately, and store any leftovers in the fridge.

Serves about 12.

Vintage embossed spoons from The Coastal Marketplace

Unfortunately Trifle doesn’t look so great once served!

Homemade Pistachio Ice Cream

I have quite the obsession with pistachio ice cream and gelato. It is a flavour I would have turned by nose up at as a child, but now the prospect of having a decent pistachio ice cream fills me with joy. 

My obsession started earlier this year, with a cafe in my local Westfield serving a pistachio thickshake made with pistachio gelato. It was utter heaven, and I ordered it a few times over those hot Summer months (to the point the waiters at the cafe began to recognise me and my standard order). Then a few months ago, the cafe changed their menu and the pistachio thickshake was long gone. 

I tried a couple of bought tubs of pistachio gelato, and while they were ok, they weren’t exactly what I was looking for. 

I began to research recipes in order to make some at home myself. It became a lot easier when I found a recipe for homemade pistachio paste, as most recipes for pistachio ice cream or gelato use it, however I have never been able to find it here in Sydney. 

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I first tried adding some homemade pistachio paste to my much used easy egg free ice cream recipe. While the flavour was good, the texture was far too firm and it froze like a solid log of ice cream. 

The next recipe I tried as another egg free one from the blog Top With Cinnamon by Izy Hossack. I really liked this recipe, as the flavour was really good and the texture much less icy and solid like my initial attempt. The recipe also made quite a lot of ice cream which I definitely liked. My only issue was it took a really long time to churn in the ice cream maker. The ice cream base was quite thin, and there being so much of it, it did feel like it wasn’t ever going to work! 

I had another recipe up my sleeve to try, which I found in the same book I found the pistachio paste recipe, À La Mère de Famille - Artisanal Recipes by Julien Merceron (too read my Off The Shelf post on this book click here). This book has been a wealth of information on making confectionary and the like, and it seems to have those hard to find recipes I have been looking for. I’m not sure if things have been lost in translation in this cookbook, but the instructions for each recipe are quite scant and I often find myself having to improvise or just guess what sized tin I need for something. 

Nevertheless the recipes from À La Mère de Famille have been super useful, and instrumental in me finding a great make at home pistachio ice cream! I have ever so slightly adapted their recipe for Pistachio Ice Cream Popsicles below, and used my version of their Pistachio Paste to flavour the ice cream. While I am very happy with the end result, I somehow doubt my obsession with making pistachio ice cream is over. I am now on the hunt for a good pistachio gelato recipe (notably after having a really good one at Piccolina Gelateria in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago!). 

Homemade Pistachio Paste

How to Make Pistachio Paste

Ingredients: 

250g raw or blanched pistachios 

100g white sugar 

30ml water

60ml (4tbsp) pistachio oil 

Method: 

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and place the pistachios on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 10 minutes. Once done set aside to cool a little. 

Place the sugar and water into a small/medium saucepan and heat until it reaches 120 degrees on a sugar thermometer. Whilst the sugar syrup is heating, place the roasted pistachios on the bowl of a food processor and blitz until they form a fine crumb. 

Once the sugar syrup has reached 120 degrees Celsius, gradually pour into the food processor whilst it is running. Gradually add the pistachio oil, and continue to process until a smooth paste forms. This should take between 5 and 10 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl at regular intervals if necessary. The finished product will be a smooth paste, similar to a nut butter. When the paste initially combines it will form a smooth ball, continue processing until a more paste like consistency is reached. 

Once a smooth paste has formed, decant into plastic containers or glass jars and store in the fridge until needed. It should last about 1 month refrigerated. If the oils in the paste separate a little during storage, mix the paste briefly before using.

Makes about 390g.

Homemade Pistachio Paste

Pistachio Ice Cream

Ingredients: 

600ml milk 

30g cornflour 

50ml pouring cream

140g caster sugar

20g mild flavoured honey

3 egg yolks

100g pistachio paste (see above)

Method: 

Heat the milk in a medium saucepan over low/medium heat until it reaches 40 degrees celsius on a candy thermometer. 

Whisk in the cornflour, cream, sugar, honey, egg yolks and pistachio paste. Continue to whisk until all the ingredients are well combined, then use a wooden spoon or a spatula to stir for the remainder of the time. Continue to gently stir the mixture until it reaches 83 degrees celsius in a candy thermometer. The mixture will thicken up, most noticeably as it gets closer to the 80 degree mark. 

The mixture now needs to be strained (to remove any lumps etc) and then blended in a blender or food processor. If your sieve can comfortably fit over your food processor, strain the mixture straight into the food processor. If not strain into a medium/large bowl and then transfer to your food processor or blender. 

Whizz the ice cream base in the food processor/blender for one minute, then transfer to a container (at least 1L capacity). Place in the fridge to cool. 

Once the ice cream base has had some time to chill in the fridge, it can be transferred to the bowl of an ice cream maker to churn (according to your machine’s instructions). I found it took only a few minutes, and the ice cream will be ready once it has firmed up a bit and is clinging to the paddle of the ice cream maker. 

Transfer the ice cream into a container to freeze (you can use the same one as before), and allow to freeze for a few hours before serving. If the ice cream has been frozen for some hours, allow the ice cream to sit out of the freezer for a few minutes before serving. 

Makes a little under 1L of ice cream. 

References: ‘À La Mère de Famille’ by Julien Merceron (Hardie Grant Books, 2013), p.160 & p.250.